There was no shortage of optimistic football fans to be found in the county on Friday, as the Cherokee county schools were 5-1 on the night, which represents the highest winning percentage the county has seen all year when six teams were in action.

Friday night also seemed to be a night to begin winning streaks. Three of the county schools — Sequoyah, River Ridge, and Woodstock — registered two wins in a row for the first time this season.

This represents a big turnaround for those three schools, because just over two weeks ago, they had a combined record of 3-12.

Woodstock coach Brent Budde said the reason for Woodstock’s sudden comes from the Wolverines’ resilience after a difficult early season schedule.

“I think that we had a good team early in the year, we just had a tough schedule,” Budde said. “Playing difficult opponents early prepared us to be a better team. Our kids improved every week, and now we are benefiting from it.”

In Woodstock’s 26-24 win over Roswell Friday, the Wolverines (2-5, 2-2) held Hornets’ star running back Andrew Kawtang to just 85 yards on 17 carries.

Now 2-2 in Region 5AAAAAA, Woodstock can move into a fourth place tie with Etowah (4-3, 3-1) if the Wolverines can beat the Eagles next Friday. Woodstock would then hold the tiebreaker if the teams finish the regular season tied for the final playoff spot.

In the last two weeks, the Knights have scored surprise victories over sub-region opponents Cedartown and Cass and can guarantee themselves no worse than a tie for the subregion championship with a win over co-leader Gilmer next Friday.

“When we started region play, I told our players that it was a brand new season,” River Ridge coach Robert Braucht said, who felt that the team’s growing belief in itself has lead to its recent wins. “I told them that we controlled our fate, and they took it in stride.”

River Ridge has also found success on the field by keeping things simple, Braucht said.

“We just keep the game plan simple so that the kids can play with confidence every play without getting confused,” Braucht said.

For the second week in a row, River Ridge running backs Vince Njoku and E.J. Ellis both rushed for over 100 yards.

The most impressive stat of the week, however, goes to the Creekview defense, who allowed only 52 total yards in their game against Cambridge, which the Grizzlies won 41-0.

This came after the Grizzlies allowed over 500 yards and 42 points last week against Northview.

Creekview (6-1, 3-0 in 7AAAAA (A)) forced three turnovers while accounting for 13 plays that resulted in a loss of yards for the Bears.

This is the second time this season that Creekview has shut an opponent out, the first coming in a 31-0 win over Osborne three weeks ago.

Sequoyah (4-3, 2-1) remained tied for second in the subregion with a 38-13 win over Forsyth Central and can guarantee itself no worse than a second place finish if it can beat Northview next Friday.

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